HARARE, Zimbabwe – For the first time in her life, Nancy Siyakurima, 23, feels like her vote will matter.

"It’s the election of my lifetime,” said Siyakurima, who said she has not decided who to support in Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary elections being held today. “I am going to decide how the country is governed. I am really excited.”

Siyakurima will be among the millions casting ballots in their first election since strongman Robert Mugabe was ousted last year as president of the southern African country after 37 years in power.

The frontrunner in the race is Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, the leader of the coup d’état against Mugabe and a mentee of the former president who is from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, or ZANU–PF. Since he seized control, he’s attempted to liberalize the country’s economy and media after years of tight government control.

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Supporters of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), protest against alleged widespread fraud by the election authority and ruling party, after the announcement of election's results, in the streets of Harare, on Aug. 1, 2018. Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party won the most seats in parliament, official results showed on Aug. 1, 2018, but EU observers criticised the Zimbabwe elections for being held on an "un-level playing field." LUIS TATO, AFP/Getty Images

Zimbabwean anti-riot police officers close the entrance to the Rainbow Towers where the election's results were announced, as supporters of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), protest against alleged widespread fraud by the election authority and ruling party, in Harare, on Aug. 1, 2018. LUIS TATO, AFP/Getty Images

A Zimbabwean soldier beats a man in a street of Harare on Aug. 1, 2018 as protests erupted over alleged fraud in the country's election. One man was shot dead, AFP witnessed, after the Zimbabwean army opened fire in central Harare on Wednesday as protests erupted over alleged fraud in the country's election. President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Aug. 1 called for peace as police fired water cannon and teargas at opposition supporters in Harare over alleged fraud in Zimbabwe's elections. ZINYANGE AUNTONY, AFP/Getty Images

A supporter of Zimbabwean opposition MDC Alliance push a barrel in front of a fire in Harare on Aug. 1, 2018, as protests erupted over alleged fraud in the country's election. LUIS TATO, AFP/Getty Images

People stand near blood stains on the pavement while the Zimbabwean Army patrols the streets of Harare on Aug. 1, 2018 as protests erupted over alleged fraud in the country's election. MARCO LONGARI, AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), protest against alleged widespread fraud by the election authority and ruling party, after the announcement of election's results, in the streets of Harare, on Aug. 1, 2018. LUIS TATO, AFP/Getty Images

A supporter of the main opposition party claiming victory, celebrates outside the party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe, July, 31, 2018. Zimbabweans are awaiting the first results from an election that they hope will lift the country out of economic and political stagnation after decades of rule by former leader Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, AP

Ballot papers are poured onto a table as the counting of the votes begins during the Zimbabwean General Election at the at St Peter's Church polling station in the suburb of Mbare on July 30, 2018 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Dan Kitwood, Getty Images

People queue early in the morning outside a polling station located in the suburb of Mbare in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, on July 30, 2018 to vote during general elections.
Zimbabwe goes to the polls in its first election since authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe was ousted last year, with allegations mounting of voter fraud and predictions of a disputed result. LUIS TATO, AFP/Getty Images

Former Zimbabwean Leader President Robert Mugabe casts his vote at a polling station in Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, July 30, 2018. Zimbabweans are voting in their first election without Robert Mugabe on the ballot, and with some 5.5 million people registered to vote. Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, AP

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa leaves the polling station after casting his vote for the presidential elections at the Sherwood Primary School in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, July 30, 2018. Jerome Delay, AP

Seeking to woo foreign investment, he’s also promised not to seize white-owned farms as Mugabe did in 2000 and afterwards, a policy that at the time was supposed to redress grievances against poor Africans during British colonial rule.

“I know of some chiefs who have moved from one farm to another – then they run it down,” Mnangagwa told a crowd of white voters in the affluent suburb of Borrowdale on July 21. “Then he leaves that farm and he is issued another one. He runs it down. That time is gone.”

Moves like those demonstrate that Mnangagwa is a force of positive change who is trying to unify the country, said supporters.

"President Mnangagwa has brought freedom to Zimbabwe,” said Ronald Machokoto, a 38-year-old voter in the capital. “We can now express our political views freely."

"If you look at the mega deals that he has signed since he got into power, you will realize that the country is poised for a major economic boom," he added. "We have to give him time to revive the country's economy.”

After nearly four decades of authoritarian rule under Mugabe, one of the African continent's most promising nations was reduced to economic ruin, having seen a collapse in its agriculture sector and hyper inflation that left people carrying buckets of cash to buy daily staples. Currently, about 90 percent of Zimbabweans are unemployed, according to Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

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The 93-year-old leader left Zimbabwe's economy in tatters, with its currency useless and employment more than 80 percent.
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Still, Mnangagwa's focus on the economy in his time in office is not expected to ride a tidal wave of support to victory.

His main rival, Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC), noted that Mnangagwa’s nickname is the “crocodile” due to his brutality when he was Mugabe’s right-hand man.

Chamisa on Monday said reported voting delays were a “deliberate attempt” to undermine his supporters in the country’s first election without former leader Robert Mugabe on the ballot. The allegations intensified concerns about management of the election and the prospect of a dispute over its outcome.

The voting turnout was high and, in a break from the past, peaceful, according to the Associated Press.

Chamisa, 40, is former minister of information communication technology under Mugabe in a cabinet that included opposition parties. whose duties included overseeing the country’s phone and postal systems. He and his supporters push back against claims that Mnangagwa has transformed the country by loosening censorship and reversing Mugabe’s suppression of free speech and the press, saying the government could curb basic freedoms in the country at any time.

Chamisa supporters agree.

"Zanu PF has been in power for 38 years – I do not think that they have anything new to offer,” said Liberty Khona, 31, from Domboshava, a village north of Harare. “Mnangagwa worked hand in glove with Mugabe since independence. He carries no hope for us. This country requires a new pair of hands.”

South Africa-based pollster Afrobarometer recently predicted that Mnangagwa would garner around 40 percent of the vote. The main opposition leader, Chamisa, was on track to receiving 37 percent. If neither Mnangagwa nor Chemisa win at least half of the vote, a runoff will occur.

Vivid Gwede, an independent political analyst and information officer at the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, said the incumbent faces an uphill battle but enjoys the backing of military leaders who sanctioned the coup against Mugabe.

“Mnangagwa faces the huge task of convincing Zimbabweans that he has what it takes to revive the country's economy,” Gwede said. “He has failed to do that since he took office in November last year. He keeps making promises to the people but forgetting that he is in power. Chamisa can capitalize on that."

"But what is important is whether the military will allow a smooth transfer of power in the event that Chamisa win in these elections,” Gwede added.

Tensions are on the rise. In a recent statement that didn’t mention specific political parties, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that voter coercion was becoming widespread in the countryside.

Last month, a bomb exploded shortly after Mnangagwa left the stage of a campaign rally in southern city of Bulawayo. The president was unscathed but at least eight people were injured.

“We remain concerned however at the increasing number of reports, particularly in some rural areas, of voter intimidation, threats of violence, harassment and coercion, including people being forced to attend political rallies,” said the commissioner’s spokesperson, Liz Throssell.

Blaming the ZANU-PF for the coercion, 24-year-old Joanna Mamombe, one of the MDC Alliance youngest candidates for parliament, said voters needed to teach Mugabe’s circle a lesson.

"This is an election is for the young generation – we cannot be bystanders,” said Mamombe. “This is why I decided to play a part. This country requires office bearers whose hands are clean.”